The saga of Spinvox continues – this time with the company launching an investigation to uncover the truth behind what it calls a smear campaign against it.

Just days after the British startup tried to allay concerns about its speech-to-text voicemail technology by inviting journalists (including our own Kevin Anderson) to watch it in action, it seems things have become a little trickier.

If the concerns raised by that demo weren't enough, apparently a dossier of the company's alleged misdeeds has been circulated to shareholders, including Dragon's Den panellist Julie Meyer. The claims – which have been documented across a number of websites – include bad leadership, poor management and irresponsible financial behaviour, though it is far from clear what the truth is. In the past, company boss Christina Domecq has accused disgruntled former employees of a sustained attack.

While there's little that's transparent about the goings-on at Spinvox right now, it will be worth watching how far they take their smear claims: Phorm, the last company to try hitting back at its detractors, saw its own stroppy campaign backfire.